As reporters and health officials walked onto the grounds of the mass suicide in Guayana, they were in shock over what they were seeing; hundreds of bodies face down on the ground, dead. One person who was at the site said that the amount of dead bodies was appalling, “it was depicted as not American, not religious, not sane, and ultimately not human.”1 Over 550 bodies of the 900 were unclaimed for almost six months until US Officials decided to cremate them. Once they brought the bodies back to the United States from Guayana, many Americans didn’t think it was right to have these bodies spread out on American soil because of the act they made. US Officials then decided to scatter the ashes of the dead bodies away from the United States border lines.
It all started with Jim Jones. Jones was a religious/political cult leader who had established the People’s Temple as a sect in Indianapolis in the 1950s. His cult focused on themes of communism, and the fight against racism, attracting many African Americans. He moved his cult to San Francisco in 1971, but it would not remain there for long. Soon after the group moved there, Jones was accused of financial fraud, physical abuse of his cult’s members, and mistreatment of children. After Jones was accused, in 1973, he became paranoid that someone would try to destroy his cult, so he moved his entire group to Guayana, South America, to build a socialist utopia known as Jonestown.
Once the cult moved to Guayana, people started to question even more the accusations being made against Jim Jones. Members who had left or escaped the cult were worried for the people still in the cult, so they convinced U.S. Congressmen Leo Ryan of California to fly to Guyana. “In November 1978, Ryan along with a group of journalists and relatives of cult members went to investigate the charges.”2 Jones did not like the idea of people coming to investigate, so he ordered his followers to have Ryan and his investigators assassinated. He ordered the attack on the group as they were returning to the airstrip to leave. A journalist named Charles Krause reported that that morning Ryan was attacked by a man with a knife, although he was not hurt by the incident. “Later that same day, Ryan and his party were attacked by assassins at the Port Kaituma Airstrip. Ryan and four others were killed and ten were injured.”3 While these killings were going on, Jones feared that he would lose his cult members and they would turn against him. He then proceeded to lead his people through a mass suicide, which was something the members had repeatedly practiced since the early 1970s.
These practices were called “White Nights” and consisted of members drinking a liquid that they believed was poisonous as a loyalty test to Jones.4 During these “White Nights,” people were woken up by a loud speaker, and they would assemble for the ritual of passing around a drink of kool-aid, which they were told was poison. Unfortunately, this time was not a test. Hundreds of adults and children lined up to drink this colorful, fruit-flavored punch, which contained cyanide and tranquilizers. Most of them thought they were just proving their loyalty as before, but as more people began to die, they realized that this time it was real. “Over 260 children, for example, had the poison given to them, while only about 40 adults escaped.”5 For those who died willingly though, collective suicide held a religious significance in the context of the worldview that had been established in Jonestown.
Collective suicide was a ritual that signified a purity of commitment to the community. On the night that they all drank this poison, Jim Jones announced “that the members of the community were united as black, proud socialists.”6 Collective suicide also promised release from a world dominated by what Jones perceived as American racism, capitalism, and fascism. He did not want to be captured and taken back to America, so instead he urged his followers to drink the poison, and “step out of the world.”7 Jones had told his followers that they were not committing suicide, but rather they were performing an act of freeing themselves from the harsh world that they lived in. There are later reports that when officials went to Jonestown, Jim Jones was found with gunshot wounds, raising the speculation that either he had committed suicide or someone else had killed him.
The Jonestown Massacre was the largest mass suicide in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the September 11 attack in 2001. The mass suicide resulted in over 900 deaths of innocent lives. Once the bodies were found, the Guyanese government asked the United States to take the bodies back. US Officials decided to start sending a few people over to identify bodies so they could decide what to do with them. Over 500 bodies were unclaimed and that is when the United States decided to have the US Air Force come in to take the bodies back to the United States.”8 To this day, families of loved ones are still trying to find a memorial place for the lost lives.
- Encyclopedia of Religion, 2005, s.v. “Jonestown and Peoples Temple,” by David Chidester. ↵
- Dictionary of American History, 2003, s.v. “Jonestown Massacre,” by Carolyn Bronstein. ↵
- Dictionary of American History, 2003, s.v. “Jonestown Massacre,” by Carolyn Bronstein. ↵
- Dictionary of American History, 2003, s.v. “Jonestown Massacre,” by Carolyn Bronstein. ↵
- Encyclopdeia of Religion, 2005, s.v. “Jonestown and Peoples Temple,” by David Chidester. ↵
- Encyclopdeia of Religion, 2005, s.v. “Jonestown and Peoples Temple,” by David Chidester. ↵
- Encyclopdeia of Religion, 2005, s.v. “Jonestown and Peoples Temple,” by David Chidester. ↵
- Encyclopdeia of Religion, 2005, s.v. “Jonestown and Peoples Temple,” by David Chidester. ↵
150 comments
Cherice Leach
This is one of the most tragic stories I have ever learned about. It’s “not American, not sane, and inhuman.” It’s crazy to think someone can be so caught up in religion to actually put your own life in the faith of another human being. What this man, Jim Jones, does to all of these people is sickening. It’s hard to believe that someone could be so concerned with themselves to just hurt all the people who have trusted him and put their faith in him.
Amanda Cantu
Your article was so interesting to read! I remember hearing about the massacre but never really knowing what it was about. Jim Jones was so powerful in ways that some people will never understand, it’s actually scary to think that people had such easy control over others. He managed to kill so many people simply because he didn’t want to lose his cult. People were so willing to obey him on those white nights because they wanted to pledge their loyalty to him. I honestly couldn’t do that especially if someone said pretend its poisoned. It had to have clicked in their head that this isn’t right even after they saw people dying after drinking the poisoned liquid. I feel so sorry for the people who lost their lives during that, no one deserves to die because of someone else’s issues with the world. Thank you for educating me about it.
Amanda Perez
I very much enjoyed reading this article because the Jonestown Massacre has always been something that has really fascinated me. It is crazy to think that one individual can have that much power over an entire group. It is terrible to think that many people lost their lives because of the choice of one man. It is even worse to think that there were children that never had the chance at a normal life or upbringing.
Marco Picardo
This article was very informing. I had no prior knowledge of such events happening before reading this article. It is truly shocking that so many individuals would follow a cult that would have ridiculous tests to prove loyalty. In this case it was not a test. Sad that people would be so nieve and trusting of someone so extreme in his ways.
Alejandra Mendez
I learned of this event many years ago and although I found it interesting, I never read about it any further until now that I’ve read this article. It is just as fascinating to me now as it was when I had heard of it. It really makes you think of how someone of no relation to you can have such an impact on your decisions. It is sad that their loyalty to Jones cost them their lives, but Jones must have been a very persuasive and manipulative man. So far to even convince his cult to move to a completely different continent to be with him. It is good that many escaped this cult, but my heart is with all those children that lost their lives and did not have a chance to grow and fend for themselves as well. It is all just very interesting as it is morbid.
Briana Myers
This article was one of the most surprising things that I have ever read. Prior to reading this I had no knowledge of this terrible event. All those people were extremely loyal to this cult so much as they were willing to drink the kool-aid. It is terrible how many people lost their lives due to the leadership of one man. It is scary to think that they trusted him and they died because he was afraid of losing power.
Alise Balderas
I was completely unaware of such events prior to reading this. This gave me chills. It is true, historical horror. I am urged to read and learn more about this particular massacre and I am curious to know if there are anymore like it in history. I am also curious to know if Jim Jones committed suicide or if he was killed. I find that mystery dark and interesting. What resonates with me the most is how so many people put total trust into one person and lost their lives because of it. They did not die fighting. That is the real tragedy.
Manuel Aguilera
Prior to my reading of the article, I had only general information concerning the massacre as a whole. Although, now that I have read the article I can confidently say I am well-informed of the aforementioned, the article is well thought out and does not leave many loose ends. With that said, I am confused about the poisoning of the members, did they all drink the poison almost simultaneously? Or were they actually passing around a container of the poison as you had mentioned? Also, concerning the argument that those who killed themselves should not be buried in America, I believe they shouldn’t have been considered horrible as this is a country of free belief, no matter what that belief is.
Ryann Cervantes
I’m glad I read this article because while I’d seen the picture before and heard of the event I never knew from where it was from. Furthermore I never could even conceive that one man could accumulate over 900 members in a cult and groom them to be so loyal that they’d not only be willing to kill, but commit suicide with him. I wonder if he would have had that same amount of impact if he had decided to do something good with his talents.
Veronica Spryszynski
This is the first I’ve heard of this massacre. It is a horrid event in history but what was interesting to me was that there are some unsolved actions like if the group knew they were being poisoned or just thought it was a test of loyalty and also the death of Jim Jones gunshot woulds. I believe those gunshots on Jones were from the 40 people who escaped the “white night” and attacked him after the group massacre happened. Outstanding article!